I don’t like where video game music is headed.

Yeah, I said it.

Despite the critical acclaim many video game OSTs (original soundtracks) garner today (We know the composers by name now!) and the general feeling of evolution when it comes to the way their sounds are produced, I’m not on board. Today sounds less like “evolution” and more like “discard and adopt”. It’s not because the modern video game sound is an awful development – it’s because the modern video game sound isn’t there.

Sure, if you love film scores, elaborate concertos, or the occasional contribution from your favorite contemporary artist, then you’re in heaven right now. But if you’re like me – someone who starts and ends with the challenge-induced melodies you do your button-pressing business on, these are indeed tough times.

“Challenge-induced? The fuck is that?”

 

Where We’ve Been

If you thought the track above was impressive, that’s because it was. That track was composed under the limitation of NES hardware. See, Software Creations’ Silver Surfer game for the NES was pretty awful in every way (the Power Cosmic jobs to a common Earth duck)…except the music, and that’s why I kept taking cracks at it. That was the era I started video games in, where composers had to discover what they were made of, navigating the beeps and bleeps of the system to crank out something remotely pleasing – or in many cases, downright outstanding. They were catchy melodies meant to hold my attention to the task at hand which eventually became a big part of my gaming experience.  You won’t catch me setting ANY audio sliders to mute.

However, the truly remarkable thing about that formula is that even as the hardware evolved, the formula remained intact. Composers were still composing in that catchy style that added to your game. Producing memorable tunes that let you know where you were and the challenge you were up against; that made your ascension an accomplishment, rather than a simple progression. All in that signature, short, makeshift style that was the foundation of the medium. Whether you were the brown blob in Castlevania, a blue streak in Rondo of Blood, or a concoction of polygons in Judgment, one thing was for sure: When “Vampire Killer” came on, you knew it was time to put Dracula on his ass for another century. (I know he wasn’t the boss in Judgment. Stop that.)

That’s what every game did for me then. That was the rule.

Now, I feel it’s the exception.

 

Where We Are

It’s very tough for a video game soundtrack to earn my praise today. Maybe I’m not wired like most people (I tend not to be – mixed bag), but these OSTs aren’t doing it for me today. Pardon my potential ignorance, but a lot of it sounds…similar to me. That’s not an easy feat for someone with a musical palate that’ll make you double-take often (I have 30+ Jem tracks on standby, come at me bro.) So when the music doesn’t have a sharp, distinctive style, I’m convinced the game music formula is no longer the norm. All the recent big hits we know by name don’t have a single song I remember, and it’s just what happens when a video game OST becomes background music. To say it prevents me from playing these new games as much as I really should wouldn’t be far off. It’s like eating a cake without frosting: It’s technically cake, but you know that shit ain’t cake.

That being said, I am a sucker for a good throwback.

Game companies old enough to be considered staples such as Nintendo, Sega, Konami, Capcom, etc. have extensive back-catalogues from that bygone era of “genius within limitation” from which they can draw rearrangement material to this day.  However, I said I am a sucker for a good throwback, and I am of the conviction that if your throwbacks don’t sound anything like the source material, you should probably stop doing them. (Looking at you, Street Fighter IV.)

But I digress. As much as I enjoy a rearrangement every now and then, I would love for those gaming companies and those afterward to allow composers to give me something new to remember like they used to, not as they used to. While it beats the blank that is your run-of-the-mill contemporary game score, I’ve had my fill of rearrangements. I want some new jams. More of those iconic, emblematic, to-the-point jams that made me play the shit out of your games then, and hopefully in the future.

More’a DAT IRON FIST.

That’s video game music to me: That special sound, which, with all surrounding contexts removed, I can still identify as a beast separate from what I would listen to anywhere else. A sound that’s not afraid to break the rules in order to make awesome music. At this point, personal tastes be damned, I’m beyond conviction that where the sound is now is somehow related to where it was. It simply feels like the second gaming blew up, the industry left behind a key part of what got it there (among other things).

 

Where We’re Going?

But you know, I can’t quite say “everything sucks now” with honesty. There have been some games of recent memory that felt like a true evolution of the VG style I struggle so hard to live without and I’d be amiss to omit them from this entry. So here are a few fairly recent games off the top of the dome with soundtracks you shoulda fuckin’ listened to already just might enjoy should you hit the YouTubes:

• No More Heroes 1 & 2 (Especially 2)
• MadWorld (A musical feat if there ever was one.)
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Pretty much an experience on its own.)
• A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda
• Punch-Out!! (Wii)
• Mega Man 10 (Shit, just listen to every Mega Man soundtrack ever.)
• The King of Fighters XIII (As if SNK will ever mail it in on the sound.)

That last one’s pretty important, seeing as its SNK’s (or “SNK-Playmore” if you’re nasty) first serious effort in years. But the story there isn’t just the game itself, but what came with it:

…or, in four discs, SNK’s way of saying: “We make video games. That’s where we’ve been, and KOF XIII is where we’re going – kicking and screaming, signature sound intact.”

And sure enough, KOF XIII has proven to be a modern masterpiece with a soundtrack influenced by it’s predecessors made for today. So whether it’s a regional dynamic, a style shift, or a new taste outright, I’m probably going to miss the boat when it comes to game music today.

Tomorrow?

If that’s a hint of what’s to come, then I think I like where video game music is headed.